


Doing It Better

by joss80



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Party, F/M, First Kiss, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 20:04:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13061187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joss80/pseuds/joss80
Summary: A mistletoe mishap has Hardy and Miller hurting and angry with each other... just in time for the work Christmas Party.





	Doing It Better

“Millahh!”

“I’m _coming!_ ”

Ellie grabbed the case file from her desk, looped the strap for her bag over her head, and rushed for the door that Hardy was holding open. She shot him a dirty look as she passed him, grateful that many of their co-workers were already on Christmas holidays. She really _hated_ being yelled at like that.

Down the hallway they went, and Hardy poked repeatedly at the button for the lift while she watched him with a scowl.

“It won’t work,” she pointed out, disdain clear in her tone.

“Oh shut it, Miller,” he shot back at her, matching her frustration. “I just want to get the rest of the day over with.”

“And yelling at me from across the room helps, does it? And abusing lift buttons? Does it make you feel better, making me feel like crap in front of Broadchurch’s Police Department?”

He crossed his arms in front of him and sighed. “It wasn’t like that.”

The lift dinged and the doors opened, and they stepped forward at the same time. Hardy resolutely turned to face the doors while Ellie crossed her arms too and intentionally faced him.

“Well why don’t you tell me how it was, then?” She was right against him, now, and he sighed loudly and turned towards her.

“We _have_ to hurry, you know that,” he said, quieter and more apologetic, but her lips were still pursed as they stared at each other from a few inches apart.

“Come by my desk next time instead,” she suggested, with eyes narrowed.

“Fine.” 

“Fine.”

Hardy rolled his eyes upwards and froze. Ellie followed his gaze and her jaw dropped open at the sight of a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the middle of the lift’s ceiling – right above them.

“Oh that’s just bloody perfect,” he exclaimed sarcastically.

“Sorry that even the _thought_ of kissing me is so repulsive,” Ellie said, turning away from him to face the lift doors.

“Oh my God, you are so _touchy_ today, Miller!”

“This coming from the man with worse PMS than any woman I know,” she shot back at him.

“What, so you actually _want_ me to kiss you?” he asked, sounding cross but confused.

She huffed out a loud breath. “It’s not –”

The lift doors opened and they noticed that everyone a few metres away at the building’s reception desk had their expectant eyes on them.

“Shit,” Ellie whispered.

“Yeah,” Hardy agreed next to her.

Hands were suddenly on her shoulders, turning her back towards him, and there was the briefest touch of his lips on hers before he stepped out of the elevator and yelled out “Show’s over!” as he made for the front door.

She stood frozen in place for a moment until she noticed him holding the door open for her – again – and saw him motioning frantically instead of yelling, and she ducked her head and ran as a volley of wolf whistles erupted behind them.

* * * * *

“We are _never_ going to live that down,” Ellie stated dejectedly, as she started her car and reversed out of the parking space.

“Nope,” Hardy said, popping the word and gazing distractedly out the window.

“You really are no help, you know.” She put the car in drive and stepped a bit too forcefully on the pedal. Hardy was pressed back into his seat and grabbed at his door handle to steady himself.

“What the hell do you want me to do?” His voice was suddenly loud and animated as they raced down the road. “I don’t kiss you, you get mad. I kiss you, you get mad. Bloody well damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

“It was a shit kiss anyway,” she said, her eyes determinedly fixed in front of them as his jaw fell open in shock.

“Oh that’s not fair, and you know it!” He steamed in his seat for a minute, quite the counterpoint to her cool and calm exterior. Then, “If that thing’s still there when we get back to the office,” he declared, “you’ll be eating your own words.”

Ellie turned the car into their informant’s driveway and shut it off. One hand still gripped the steering wheel hard, and her face was slightly flushed. She looked like she was struggling to figure out what to say to that, but in the end she just got quietly out of the car without looking at him.

Hardy let his head fall back against his seat and closed his eyes.

“Damn it, Miller,” he whispered. “What have we done?”

* * * * *

They’d managed to get through the interview just fine, very professional with their informant and with each other. The usual banter on the drive back was missing, though, and they passed the few minutes in silence.

The steps up and back into the Police building were full of tension, and Ellie bounced nervously on her toes as Hardy pushed the button for the lift one time and then left it alone. It seemed to take a lifetime for the doors to open, and when they stepped in they both looked up and then at each other with mixed emotions.

The sprig of mistletoe was gone.

“Guess that solves that, then,” Ellie observed quietly.

Hardy shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor, not saying anything.

There was more silence, and then silence once the doors opened and they walked down the hallway together, and silence as Hardy opened the department’s door for her, and silence as she gathered her things and he searched for his glasses on his messy desk. A slight noise at his doorway prompted him to look up, and he saw her standing there looking utterly forlorn. 

He knew he had the same expression on his face, could feel his heart aching in his chest as he watched her swallow and put a fake smile on her face.

“See you at the Christmas party tonight,” Ellie said, too bright and cheery even for her, and then her smile faded as she turned and disappeared around the corner.

He wanted to call out to her to try and fix whatever this was, but didn’t know how.

* * * * *

Ellie approached the Arts Centre with some trepidation that evening. She generally didn’t like loud, boozy get-togethers anyway, but with the whole thing with her and Hardy and the fact that half a dozen people had been witness to it… she was anticipating an evening of jokes and laughter at their expense, and that made her want to run and hide.

But she didn’t, because she was Ellie Miller and she didn’t run from shit like that. She faced it head-on and told it like it is. 

She entered through the doorway to the main room and almost gasped. Whoever had decorated the space had done an amazing job. The lighting was muted, with soft jazz playing in the background while dark blue streamers laced with thin flecks silver danced across the ceiling and down the walls. It felt cozy and intimate in spite of the already sizeable crowd. She adjusted the straps of her burgundy-coloured dress and let a hand drift upwards to check that her hair was still in place, and stepped forward towards the bar.

She wasn’t about to run and hide, but some liquid courage was a _really_ good idea.

She didn’t even have her gin and tonic in hand before someone was at her elbow, talking in circles and fishing for information about _earlier_. She gave them a death glare that did its job, and she downed her drink and asked for another as she watched the person walk away.

New drink in hand, she wandered over to a few of the other detectives from her department. They all made small talk for a while as she scanned the room surreptitiously for Hardy, and a minute later she felt her breath catch as her eyes landed on him. He was standing off to the side, half-hidden by a pillar, wearing a form-fitting black suit and tie and looking everywhere but at her.

“Oh go on,” someone commented next to her. “You know you want to.”

She whirled around and got right up into their face.

“I’ve barely been here ten minutes and I’ve already had enough of this shit. You can all sod off,” she hissed, withdrawing slightly. “You have _no_ idea what happened and _no_ idea how hurt I am that you’re all gossiping about me. _Again._ ”

The gossip about Joe had been horrible, and the ensuing speculation about an affair between her and Hardy had been almost unbearable given their friendship and the overall situation. And here they all were several years later, with still nothing better to do than make up stories and assumptions about them.

She turned and high-tailed it back towards the main door, depositing her glass on a table along the way. She needed some space, some air, some quiet without snooping people and whispers of conversation swirling around just out of her reach.

She made it out of the room and was about to head outside when she spotted several more co-workers headed up the steps from the parking lot. A door off to the side caught her attention and she made for that instead, sighing in relief when the handle turned and let her into another sizeable but dark room.

She closed the door quickly behind her and let out a long breath. The air in the room was cool, but just what she needed. She took a few steps further in, let her shoes spin her in a circle on the hardwood floor, and smiled. It all felt a little better in here – less pressure, less noise, less alcohol because goodness knows she didn’t need a third drink at this rate.

The muted sound of music from the adjacent room suddenly became a bit louder, and then she heard a soft click of the door closing. She spun around in a half-turn, and came face-to-face with Hardy in the dark. He reached out an arm to steady her, and she didn’t have the heart to shrug his hand away.

“Hi.” His voice was quiet, careful.

“Hi,” she replied, equally soft and hesitant. Her eyes met his and she couldn’t tear herself away from their dark depths even as she felt tears pooling in her own.

“C’mere,” he said, tugging on her shoulder with his hand, and she went willingly into his embrace. Warm, firm arms wrapped around her as she let her head fall against his chest and started crying.

“Shit,” she mumbled between sobs against his suit jacket, “I’m doing it again.”

“Shhh, it’s okay.” He didn’t seem to mind, just stroked up and down her back and held her to him.

“I hate fighting with you,” she managed to get out. “You’re one of the most important people in my life, and even though you’re a complete git sometimes –”

“It hurts too much, I know. I’ve been a mess all afternoon too,” he acknowledged softly against her hair. “I’m so sorry, Miller.”

She gulped in a few deep breaths and seemed to calm down a bit.

“This helps,” she whispered. “Thank you for being here for me.”

“I’ll go and yell at everyone in the other room if you’d like?” he offered, and he could feel the vibration as she laughed against him. “I know what they’ve been saying about us.”

“No,” she said, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. “Let them think what they want. You and me, here, _this_ is what’s really important.”

He hugged her tighter and she wrapped her arms around him too.

“So, hugging’s okay now?” he asked teasingly.

She seemed to contemplate it for a moment.

“Yeah, I really like it.” The muffled response came from against his shirt, and he grinned like a mad thing in the dark. Then he quietened, remembering the whole reason for the mess in the first place.

“Ellie,” he started, and she pulled back slightly at his tone and use of her first name, and watched him with curious eyes. “The whole mistletoe thing – I really am sorry about all the mess it caused us. I didn’t mean to confuse you or make you angry or hurt you.”

Her whole demeanor changed, then, and she considered him sadly.

“You were right, damned if you did or didn’t. I shouldn’t have been so worked up about it.”

“Maybe I just shouldn’t have kissed you. It would have saved us the office gossip, at least.”

Her eyes squinted in thought. “Why _did_ you kiss me, then?”

Her face was open and he gazed at her with consternation until suddenly something deep inside prompted him.

“I… because I wanted to,” he admitted shyly.

“Still a shit kiss,” Ellie joked, but her face reddened with warmth at his admission and she didn’t pull away.

“I can do better.”

Their dark eyes met in the dim light and he watched as she bit uncharacteristically at her bottom lip. Hardy drew in a deep breath as his heart did a somersault and his pulse tried to speed up.

“Do you want to, uh, that is….” he stumbled over the words, realizing just how big of a deal what he was suggesting actually _was_. “May I kiss you, properly this time?”

She tilted her head, considering him for a moment.

“I can’t have you kiss me just for a lark, Alec.”

He reached a hand up and cupped the side of her face gently. “I’m not about to screw everything up – again - just for a kiss, Ellie,” he whispered, as his face inched closer to hers.

“Are you sure this is what you want… what you want to try, with me?” And they both knew that they were talking about more than just that moment in time.

“Never been so sure of anything in my life,” he responded, and the gaze on his face said it all.

Ellie drew in a deep breath, smiled, and nodded ever-so-slightly.

His hand slid down to her neck, and backwards to grasp lightly in her hair and pull her towards him. Eyes slid closed at the last possible moment and then his lips were on hers, pressing lightly for a few moments before withdrawing in an agonizingly slow manner.

He had to catch his breath for a moment. Then, “Better?”

“Much. Definitely not shit.” She grinned at him in the darkness, and let a hand rest on his shirt against the slight bump of his pacemaker scar. “Your heart’s beating awfully fast. You sure you’re alright?”

“Shut up, Miller.”

He leaned into her again, and this time his lips roved over hers, sinking into the sweet softness of them as she pressed up closer to him. It was a good few moments before they separated, and when they did he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him once more.

“Tonight just redeemed itself, I think,” he murmured next to her ear, and something in him jumped as he felt her shiver at the touch.

The music in the next room swelled suddenly, accompanied by some raucous laughter, and both of them froze at the reminder of where they were.

“You want to get out of here?” Ellie asked coyly.

“Absolutely.” He looked around the room a bit frantically. “How do you feel about climbing out of a window?”


End file.
